Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: There are some lyrics here, from the song Dance 'Til We're High by Paul McCartney, from The Fireman (Paul McCartney and Youth) album Electric Arguments.
A/N #2: I had been wondering what readers would think of the last chapter, so to see the feedback was really great and I'd like to get to my thank yous right away! Beckett-Castle4ever (Happy to see you thought the last chapter was good right away! And I'm not surprised you were glad that the baby and Beckett were okay. The same with you wondering how the girls will take Beckett's arm being cut. Oh, and there was no surprised either to see that you can't wait for Castle and Beckett to give the girls the dog, that I figured readers would want to see, lol. So pleased to see you can't wait to see what happens next and now you don't need to anymore!), vetgirlmx (It was nice to see you thought the last chapter was a very nice one. And you're right, sometimes people will do anything because of money, even kill their entire family as you mentioned; it has happened before. I wasn't surprised that you were glad that the baby was okay, that I thought the readers would want to have happen, lol. And I had to laugh a bit at what you said about no one being hurt too badly this time; gotta change it up every once in a while, lol. I was glad to read that you liked seeing Martha and Brad's wife watching the news coverage of them trying to get the baby. And you're right, it is different to see how they all work together; I think that's why I wrote that, so they could see what it is they do when they work. I wasn't surprised to see that you mentioned the Tyson follower, and as for your question… who knows? And I'm not kidding, lol, I don't. I'm very pleased to see that you can't wait to see what they'll do since they don't have to work for the holidays. And now you don't need to wait to see a little bit of that!), TORONTOSUN (Not surprised that you too were glad that the baby came out of everything okay. And the same with you liking that Esposito and Ryan were in the chapter as well!), life's a mystery (Happy to see you thought the last chapter was a great one! Again, I'm not surprised that you too are happy to see that the baby is safe; or that the case is over either, lol. Another thing that didn't surprise me was to read that you're looking forward to their Christmas) and MichelleBell16 (I wasn't surprised to see that you're glad to see that they were able to save the baby as well as catch the killer. Great that you can't wait to read more, which now you don't need to do! And also not surprised that you mentioned again you can't wait to read about them getting the dog, lol, I know you're looking forward to that). Thanks so much to you guys for those reviews, loved reading them and I really appreciate you all taking the time to send them to me!
A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song (I Want to) Come Home by Paul McCartney, a single written for the movie Everybody's Fine.
We Remember Who We Are
Turning around while she spun, Julia caught sight of two figures near the door to the classroom but it didn't register to her who it was until she had stopped, facing away from them. "Mommy!" she cried, whirling around before running to her.
Surprised as the little girl wrapped her arms around her, Beckett quickly said, "I'm so sorry," to the dance class teacher.
"It's alright, we were ending there anyways so you may all head home," she said with a smile. "And remember, tomorrow we're taking the day off. But Monday we'll be going back to the Jive. Have a wonderful weekend students."
"Sweetie what's wrong?" Beckett asked as the other kids went to the back room to change.
"I saw on the TV what happened," Julia said, looking up at her. "Are you okay?"
"How did you see?" Castle asked as he shared a shocked look with his wife.
"I went to take something to the library, but no one was at the desk," Julia replied. "And when I went back to see if I could find the librarians, they were all watching TV, and you were on. Both of you."
"We're okay," Beckett assured her. "I had to help Brad-"
"Get that baby out of the water," Julia said hurriedly, interrupting her. "But why did he do that? That man?"
"He wanted something and he thought doing that to the baby would help him," Castle said, thinking quickly. "But the baby is okay and that man is definitely going to jail."
Breathing out a little Julia told her mother seriously, "I was scared, but I kept watching to make sure you were okay. But what about your arm?"
"You saw that?" Beckett asked in dismay. When the little girl nodded she sighed and then said, "It's fine, more of a scratch really."
"She's not kidding, I saw," Castle said quickly when their daughter looked to him. "The doctors took a look at it and she's doing fine."
"We're finished with the case now sweetie," Beckett then said. "And we want to celebrate a little bit."
"What are we going to do?" Julia asked, becoming interested after hearing that her parents were finished with the case.
"You'll see once you get changed," Castle said. Once she'd gone to the back rooms he went with Beckett over to his mother and Eliza who were waiting for them. "Hey sweetheart," he said, taking the toddler into his arms. He smiled at his wife when their youngest started to kiss his cheek and he turned his head to share a kiss with her. "I'm happy to see you too. So how was your day?"
"No Daddy," Eliza said before she leaned over and kissed her mother. "I played with Gram," she then said.
"So you had fun," Beckett said, smiling when the toddler nodded. "Did you go down to the beach?"
"Yeah, we see shells," Eliza replied carefully.
"A lot of them," Martha replied. She squeezed Beckett's shoulder before saying, "I hope you won't mind me stepping out tonight again."
"You don't feel you have to do you?" Castle asked his mother.
"No, no, I decided to repay the Swansons and I'll be taking them out to dinner tonight," Martha replied. "We'll be going to Southampton so I'll stay home while you go out."
"How do you know we're going out?" Castle said.
"I can tell," Martha said simply. "As for where, I have no idea yet."
"You'll find out now," Beckett said with a smile as they looked over at the students coming out from changing. They all left except for one of the last kids; Julia; and she held her hand out to her daughter as she went straight to her. They walked ahead of the others before she said, "Where's Mari?"
"David picked her up," Julia answered. "Rebecca wanted her to come home. I think she missed her."
"I don't blame her, I missed my daughters too," Beckett said, smiling down at her.
"What are we going to do?" Julia then asked, remembering the celebration her mother had mentioned.
"I told your mom we should take you and your sister to the movie theater downtown and then out to dinner," Castle said, hurrying to walk next to them.
"Don't you want to go?" Beckett asked, seeing Julia's hesitation.
"I do but… what if we wait to go?" the little girl asked.
"Then what would… I forgot to ask, what about your homework?" Castle asked.
At that Julia smiled and said, "I don't have any."
"At all?" Beckett said in surprise. When Julia nodded she then said, "Okay, then what would you like to do instead of the movies?"
"The studio?" Julia suggested. She then hurriedly said, "I want to maybe paint a vase for Alexis and we can buy flowers for it. And then I can paint something for my teacher."
"I think it sounds like a fun idea," Martha suggested. "And you two haven't taken them there have you?"
"No, we never did," Beckett said, sharing a look with her husband. "Do you want to go?"
"I think I should ask you," Castle said in reply.
"I do, it might be pretty fun," Beckett said, not surprised he was unsure about her wanting to go to a place like that. "And I'd love to see what you might be able to paint."
"You want to paint something too?" Castle said in obvious surprise.
"Rick, I'm not that boring," Beckett said. She smiled at their youngest who cried, "No, Daddy!"
"Okay, then this will be fun," Castle said as they were walking up the driveway to the house.
Inside Castle and Beckett stopped their daughters from leaving the entry, the former setting Julia's backpack on the bench.
"Say goodbye to your gram," Beckett told Julia and Eliza as they looked confused but also excited.
"I hope you have a really great dinner," Julia said as she and her sister wrapped their arms around Martha's waist.
"I will and you two will as well of course," Castle's mother said, taking them to the bench so she could sit and hug them to her tightly. "We'll say goodnight, because I might stay the night with them, they'll likely want to stay out late."
"You can walk me to school?" Julia asked her parents.
"We will, so if you stay Mother it's fine," Castle told her.
"Alright, then goodnight Julia, Eliza I'll see you tomorrow," Martha said. "And I love you both so much."
"Love you Gram!" Julia cried, throwing her arms around her grandmother as tightly as she could.
"Me too Gram," Eliza said, hugging Martha around her side since her sister was holding her by the neck.
"We're very lucky," Castle's mother was saying to her son and daughter in law as she was embracing the girls. When they smiled at her she kissed her granddaughters before standing up. "Have fun and I trust you two to tell me about everything that happens."
"We will, don't worry Gram you'll hear everything we do," Julia assured her.
"Night Mother, we'll see you tomorrow at some point," Castle said.
"Have a great dinner," Beckett said before she and her husband took their daughters out to the car.
"I wonder what you're gonna paint this time," Julia was saying to her sister as they were driving to the place.
"I think you should stick with a plate," Castle suggested, looking back to look at them as Beckett was driving.
"Kay, help Daddy?" Eliza asked hopefully.
"Of course," Castle said. "What should I paint?" he then asked them.
Beckett smiled as Julia and Eliza both started to speak at the same time and she said, "Eliza?"
"Plate," the toddler said immediately.
"I think you should paint a vase," Julia said before her mother could ask her.
"Then I'll paint a plate," Beckett said as she was parking. "You want to paint with me instead?" she asked Eliza once she was in the backseat getting her out of her car seat.
"No, Daddy," the toddler replied immediately.
"I guess that settles that," Castle said, squeezing Julia's hand as she was standing with him as they waited. He ran his hand over her hair, not surprised at her nearly protesting her mother's suggestion as he had a feeling after what she'd seen on TV she wanted to be close to her. "Do you have an idea of what you want to paint on the mug?" he asked as they went over to the building where the pottery studio was since Beckett was carrying Eliza and walking after them.
Once inside, the two were greeted by an employee who remembered the girls from their previous visits and she then led them to the shelves of pottery. With Julia helping them decide what to pick the family soon went over to a table together and prepared to paint.
"So I was going to say Daddy," the little girl said, looking across the table at him and Eliza. "Mrs. Watson likes trees, so I want to paint those. And make the leaves red, orange and yellow 'cause she told us she likes fall leaves the most."
"Good idea, but how are you going to paint the leaves?" Castle asked her.
"With this!" Julia said, showing a plastic stick that looked like the handle of a brush but was cut off on the bottom. "See? It makes the perfect circle."
"It does," Beckett said as she picked the last of the paints she wanted to use. "What about you sweetie?" she said to Eliza who was looking at her paintbrush closely.
"Not in your mouth," Castle said, knowing what that stare indicated. "Remember the paint goes on there. What do you want to put on your plate?"
"These," Eliza said, reaching for a paint jar. She took one that was a dark blue and then two more, picking a green one last. "Wanna put dots."
"Pointillism, interesting," Castle said. "I look forward to seeing what you can do. Love?"
"You'll find out," Beckett said with a smile as she dipped the second stick that was like the one Julia was going to use into some black paint.
"Make sure it looks like peacock feathers," Julia was telling her father as he was getting some blue paint onto his brush. "Are you going to make it look like feathers?"
"Oh no, I'm not an artist," Castle said. He then pointed the end of his brush and then told her in a mock stern tone of voice, "A photographer yes but that's because your mom says I am."
Giggling, Julia was about to say something when her little sister suddenly reached up to their father and painted a line above his upper lip. She then burst out laughing as both ends of the light blue line ended up pointing up and she cried, "It looks like you have a mustache!"
"So it does," Castle said, laughing under his breath as he used his phone to look at himself. "Take a picture with me Eliza," he said then, leaning down to snap the selfie with her, making sure she was holding up the paintbrush in front of them. "Nice," he said, nodding. "What do you think Kate?" he asked, looking at his wife and wondering why she hadn't said anything.
"It's… interesting, remember what I told you though," Beckett said, pointing her brush at him.
"I know, no facial hair," Castle said. "But I like it, it makes me look like a weird, Andy Warhol version of Snidely Whiplash," he said as he pretended to stroke the fake mustache.
"It does make your eyes bluer," Beckett commented with a slight smirk, wondering at what he'd say to that.
"Oh, maybe I should leave it," Castle said, pretending to think about that seriously.
"No," Beckett said. "Wipe it off or you'll get it in your tea," she said as the woman who'd help them pick out what to paint came over with their drink orders.
"It was still nice to have a mustache for a little," Castle said. "Hey, not bad sweetheart," he said, looking at the plate the toddler was painting still next to him.
"It is water," Eliza said with a giggle as she watched her father wipe the paint off his face. "And no monsters, just fishies," she said looking at her nearly filled in plate that she was using the light blue color on.
"Is that what the green is going to be?" Julia asked.
Looking at the jars and studying them, Eliza shook her head and said, "No Daddy, colors like the big fishies."
"Big fishies?" Castle asked his wife as he started to put the green jars away.
"Dolphins?" Beckett asked.
When her little sister shook her head Julia quickly said, "I think she means koi fish?" though she spoke hesitantly.
"Oh, good idea. So white," Castle said, getting the jar from in front of them. "And orange, yellow, black. Are those good?"
"Thank you Daddy," Eliza said. She looked at her mother's plate and said, "What is that Mommy?"
"They're just dots," Beckett said with a smile.
"Why Mommy?" Eliza then said.
"You'll see when I finish," Beckett replied easily. "But why did you take the other blues?"
"I think she wants the water to be different colors," Castle suggested. He wasn't surprised when their youngest nodded enthusiastically at him and he said, "I'll do that for you okay? Or do you want to do it yourself?"
"No, you Daddy," Eliza replied. She then reached across to the paintbrushes also in the middle of the table and showed him the thinnest one. "This one."
"Okay, then I better hurry with my vase here…" Castle said, going back to painting triangles with the peacock blue and peacock green paint. "I think your gram might want this vase when she sees it, you know how much she loves these colors."
"I still think Alexis will like it," Julia said, looking up from her mug. "Especially if you paint the borders with black, or is that gonna be too much?"
"No, I can do that," Castle said.
"How are those trees coming?" Beckett asked since Julia had stopped painting.
"Good," the little girl said with a smile. "Like the trunks?"
"I think you might have a little bit of an artist in you," Castle said as they admired them.
"He's right, those are really well done, I like that you have them different shapes," Beckett commented. "And that you put different colors on the dark brown, you've been looking at your pictures of the paintings at the Met haven't you?"
"Yeah, I thought about doing this and I thought Gram would take us," Julia said.
"Next time you want to try and do something with us," Castle said, realizing from that; and seeing that Beckett had too; that the little girl had been unsure about if they'd want to come to the studio. "Just ask, we'll think about it okay?"
"Promise you'll think about it?" Julia asked.
"We promise," Beckett said, leaning over and pressing her lips to the top of the little girl's head. She wrapped her left arm around her daughter when Julia hugged her tightly and she murmured an I love you in response to the one that the little girl whispered to her. "Okay, drink your juice and then see if you can start on those leaves."
"Ready for me to start?" Castle asked as Eliza grabbed her cup and he was quick to help her take a sip. When she nodded after drinking he scooted his chair over closer to her and then began to paint short lines on the bottom of the plate, using the darkest blue and then the medium shade she'd picked out before putting some white dashes as well. When he finished he asked, "What do you think."
"Beautiful," Beckett said, smiling as Eliza giggled shyly in pleasure. "And you did a good job too love."
"Thank you," Castle said, waving his hand to her and making their daughters laugh. "Okay, now you can make the koi fish. Think you can do it by yourself?"
"Help me Daddy," Eliza said quickly. She pointed to the orange-red paint he'd picked out and watched him closely as he dipped the end of the handle into it before he made her hold it. With him leading her she pressed the circle down on the blue and when it pulled away she squealed for a moment at the circle underneath and bounced on the chair saying, "I do it!"
"Go ahead but if you have any problems just let me know," Castle told her.
"How are your leaves coming along Julia?" Beckett asked the little girl.
"Okay but I don't know what I should do," she said, biting her lower lip for a moment. "Should I put the colors at the bottom like they fell? Or… I thought I could put some here under the leaves on top, but just a couple."
"I like the second idea," Castle said.
"I agree," Beckett said as Julia turned to her. "It'll make it look like fall has just started."
Smiling, Julia got back to work on finishing the first tree and with the few circles underneath she nodded and then moved on. She watched her mother paint for a little out of the corner of her eye, seeing she was using a blue that looked a lot like the shade her aquamarine pendant was to make some dots with another handle that had been in the holder. When she then started to use green she smiled, knowing that that color was supposed to be her emerald. She then turned her attention back to her mug until she had finished it, looking at it all the way around. "Good?" she asked, showing it to her mother.
"I think Mrs. Watson will love it," Beckett replied with a smile, kissing her temple. "What do you think?" she asked, showing her the plate with its curved lines of black, some blue and green dots in the spaces of white.
"Pretty!" Eliza said.
"How did you get the paint on your chin?" Beckett said with a slight laugh, seeing some of the white dots on her chin.
"I want to be a fishy too," Eliza told them.
"You're pretty close," Castle said, wiping off her chin. "But look at her plate."
"Wow, I'm shocked," Beckett said in surprise to see the plate wasn't overrun with dots. "You were watching her?"
"I was," Castle said with a smile that his wife returned. "And what do you think?" he asked, showing them his vase.
"Oh Daddy, that's perfect; Alexis will love it," Julia said happily. "I'm so glad we came!"
"Me too, we should do this again sometime. Maybe Christmas gifts?" Castle suggested.
"Yeah, that would be a good idea," Beckett said. "For your grandparents."
"And 'lexis," Julia said quickly.
"And for Alexis too," Castle said. "Okay, so I'll get the employee to take these to the kiln, you three wash up and I'll meet you next door?"
"The florist's shop?" Beckett asked.
"To pick the flowers for the vase," Castle said simply. He watched the three leave for the sinks against the side of the room, and then looked for the employee to get her to take their things. After they were taken away he rushed to the sinks himself to hurriedly wash his hands and follow them next door. Stepping into the florist's shop they'd been in only that morning he watched his wife and their daughters for a moment, looking around after before something snagged his eye and he then went over to them at some sunflowers.
"I don't think these will fit in your sister's vase," Beckett was telling Eliza since the toddler had pulled her over to the yellow flowers. "We need something a little smaller."
"What about these?" Julia asked, pointing to flowers that were yellow.
"Dahlias," Castle said, getting their attention. "A couple of those would be pretty," he said as he picked Eliza up when she ran to him.
"What do they mean?" Julia then said.
"Elegance and I think dignity if I'm remembering correctly," Beckett said after thinking for a moment.
"That's perfect for Alexis," Julia said, picking two of them. "Okay, now we can go."
"I'll pay for these," Castle said, setting Eliza down then as Julia had followed him, leaving Beckett behind to look at some magnolias. "Can you two do something for me?"
"Yeah," Julia said immediately.
"Keep your mom distracted okay? Just while I pay," Castle told them as Eliza was nodding in agreement with her sister. He had expected Julia to ask why but when she merely smiled and led her sister back to Beckett he realized she knew already. Smiling at how quick she was, he turned back to the register and asked Gibbs who was standing at the counter, "It's ready?"
"Calm down you two," Beckett was saying to the girls who were begging her to leave and walk down to the toy store to see the display. "We can go look at that but your daddy's still paying."
"He'll be able to catch up," Julia said, tugging her mother's hand. "He's-"
"I'm right here," Castle said then, having paid.
"Why is your hand behind your back love?" Beckett asked as he handed Julia the two dahlias.
"Just because," Castle said.
"Close your eyes Mommy," their oldest said then.
"Close!" Eliza urged her.
Beckett shook her head and closed her eyes before she heard the rustle of plastic and she already had an idea of what Castle had. A delicate scent then reached her nose and she opened her eyes, finding him holding a bouquet with white cherry blossoms, dogwood flowers and delphinium in it. "It's beautiful," she said, taking it. She then stepped close to him, cupping his cheek before she kissed him as deeply as she could but not letting it last since she knew their daughters were watching them. "Any reason?"
"Not really," Castle said. "I think it's why they love me here."
"More than likely," Beckett said with a slight laugh. "Here," she said, handing the flowers to Julia.
"Don't touch Lizzy," the little girl told her sister. "Smell," she instructed her then. "This is so pretty. What do they mean?"
"Well the delphinium you know already; ardent attachment and joy," Beckett said. "The cherry blossom in China is a symbol of feminine beauty," she said as she glanced at her husband out of the corner of her eye.
"Kindness in Japan too," Castle was quickly to add as he smiled at her. "I'm not sure what the dogwood flower means though."
"I think…" Beckett started to say before she trailed off. "Did you know?"
"I just said no," Castle replied, wondering at her surprise. "What?"
Leaning over to him, Beckett whispered, "It means endurance."
"Oh of course," Castle said hurriedly once he'd gotten over the surprise at that. "The dogwood tree I'm sure they mean, it can endure harsh weather maybe."
"So it's a strong tree?" Julia asked, handing the bouquet back to her mother.
"Exactly," Beckett replied. "So they want to look at the toy store display now. Or was that just to get me to not notice the flowers?"
"No, we want to look," Julia said firmly.
"We'll go," Castle said, picking up Eliza as she was trying to get her mother to pick her up. "But if you two get cold we'll head to dinner."
"It's still pretty early," Beckett said doubtfully, looking at her watch as Julia held her by the wrist as they left. "Maybe if they're okay we could go inside?"
"You're sure you want to suggest that love?" Castle asked her with a smile.
"Not really but I get the feeling looking at the display will be enough to remind them what's inside," Beckett replied. She shared a look with her husband; where they seemed to agree without saying a word; and she then said, "You two can go inside and look around but you have to leave when we tell you to, or else we'll just go straight home okay?"
"Okay," Julia said simply, smiling as Eliza nodded with her eyes wide at her mother's slightly stern tone.
Walking down the sidewalk from the florist, the family took a few minutes to look at the display in the toy store window, which was a miniature village complete with a theater, post office and even a beach with sand and blue paper standing in for water. After Julia had taken a few pictures; and had her father take some; they went in and the little girl went straight to the board games while Castle took Eliza to the games for kids her age.
"Oh Mommy, I forgot I want to see their costumes," Julia said when Beckett had walked over to her. "See if I can ask Santa for one more thing. Maybe," she added with a smile as her parents had constantly told her and Eliza they could ask for things but it didn't mean they'd get everything on their list. "Do you know how he does it Mommy?" she asked as she led the way to the costumes.
"Does what?" Beckett said as she watched Julia look through some historical dresses.
"Picks what we get," the little girl asked, starting to try and pull a dress off the rack it was hanging from.
"Here," Beckett said. "And I don't know how, he just picks what he knows you want more."
"Hmm," Julia said absently, touching the blue and red 1700s style dress.
"What are you thinking? Too much red?" Beckett asked, thinking she was considering the costume.
"No, I'm thinking about when adults buy something for another adult," Julia said. "Remember in Little House? Ma tells Laura and Mary that Santa Claus is when you give someone a gift too. But they don't always give you a list. Does Daddy give you a list?"
Smiling at her thought process, Beckett said, "No but since we're married I see what he likes and doesn't and also what he needs that is a good present."
"So that is like Santa Claus," Julia said with a wide smile. "Oh I can't wait for Christmas, Mommy."
"Eliza can't either," Castle said, coming over with her in his arms again. "She keeps saying Santa."
"Chri'mas Mommy," Eliza then said.
"Soon sweetie," Beckett assured her. She was going to put the dress in her hand back when she paused and then reached in, pulling something out. "Hold that," she told her husband.
"What is it?" Julia asked interestedly since her father was holding a small dress from the Civil War era in dark blue complete with a hoop skirt; looking almost like a sailor's uniform at the top.
"And this," Beckett said, pulling out another of the same time period. She handed it to Julia and said, "What do you think?"
"Are you going to get these?" Castle asked as their oldest ran her fingers over the blue and white plaid in the dress she was holding.
"No, what do you think about asking Santa for those?" Beckett asked, looking at their daughters.
"Can I put on?" the toddler asked.
"Do you want to? Maybe you two could dress up together," Beckett suggested.
"Yeah, and then we could have tea parties Lizzy!" Julia said enthusiastically.
"Tell Santa," Eliza said to her sister happily.
"We will tonight," Castle said.
"How?" Julia asked.
"You'll see," Castle said, more to his wife than their oldest as Beckett was looking at him. "But I hope he does bring those for you," he said as she and Julia put the dresses back. "Maybe he'll bring one for your mom," laughing when she pushed him.
"The hoops will be too big," Julia said. "Remember Almanzo's mom couldn't walk through the door in Farmer Boy? She had to turn to fit."
"Then just you two," Castle said. "So why don't we head to the board games, see if they have anything new," he told Julia as he set her sister down. As the two started off ahead of them he took Beckett's hand and said, "Maybe Halloween next year I'll go as an officer in the Union army, you can be my wife."
"Any reason why you suddenly want me in that kind of dress?" Beckett asked in amusement.
"It'd be interesting to see," Castle said simply.
Shaking her head, Beckett turned her attention to the girls who were looking through the games more appropriate for Eliza to play, talking about the ones the toddler had put in her letter to Santa.
After glancing through the rest of the store's selection, Castle and Beckett gathered their daughters and managed to get them to go without too much protest; a little startling since there had been many times when they'd had to literally drag them both out.
"I think they must be hungry," Castle commented as they were walking behind the girls who were hand in hand.
"We are," Julia said. "And we're excited to send the letters." She then paused for a moment and said, "But how do you mail the letters? The mail doesn't come until tomorrow."
"Smart girl; just like your mom," Castle said. "You'll see when we get home okay?" He wasn't surprised when Julia looked a little impatient at that but didn't say anything else as they reached the ceramics studio and got their things. They then headed to the car where he waited to make sure she helped Eliza into her car seat before getting onto hers.
Beckett drove them to the restaurant and once inside she helped Eliza with her coat before taking off her own. They had to wait a few minutes so she was about to take the toddler's hand and lead her over to the old fashioned jukebox that Eliza always liked to look at when they were there. But before she could Julia was rushing over to the window, crying that it was snowing. She followed with Castle and she glanced at her husband when she saw the fat flakes that were falling few and far between.
"We'll have to keep our eyes on it," Castle said, though he knew his wife had already thought of that herself. His name was called and he was going to pick up their youngest when Julia took her hand.
"Can we sit together?" the little girl asked her parents as they were walking after the hostess.
"Will you be alright taking care of her while you eat?" Castle asked.
"I will," Julia promised.
"Alright I think we can go ahead and do that," Beckett said, since her husband was looking at her. "But be careful she doesn't spill anything."
Sitting at the booth across from their parents, Julia read the kid's menu to her sister before she saw something. "Mommy, Daddy, it says a special is an eggnog shake," she said.
"Do you want that?" Beckett asked. When the little girl looked at her in slight shock she smiled and told her, "It'll be dessert too."
"Yeah I do," Julia replied, nodding her head furiously.
"Me too Mommy?" Eliza asked.
"I think we can split one," Castle said before his wife could answer. "And they can share theirs too."
"Okay, do you know what you both want?" Beckett asked as the waitress came back to them.
Once they'd ordered their drinks and food together; Castle and Beckett thinking of the weather; Julia and her sister started to color in the small activity books they'd been given. Meanwhile their parents were looking outside, seeing the snow was falling much the same as it had been when it'd started.
"What about going outside?" Castle inquired, looking at his wife.
"I think we might be able to manage it," Beckett said. "Who knows, it could stop. If it turns into a blizzard though, obviously we're not going to be able to go."
"No kidding," Castle said with a smile.
"I hope it doesn't," Julia replied from across the table, smiling when her parents looked at her. "Then 'lexis won't be able to come."
"That's true but the weather didn't really call for snow," Beckett said, reminding her husband. "So we'll be okay. For now though tell us how school went; but you don't need to tell us about the library again."
Glancing at Eliza who was coloring with her tongue slightly sticking out of her mouth, Julia nodded and said, "It was fun, we did reading in history, now we're reading about Manifest Destiny and people going on the Oregon Trail from the city."
"I bet you're enjoying that," Castle said, not surprised when she nodded. "How was math?"
"The same," Julia said. "Oh, we did get to do word problems today, that was more fun. And in science we learned about trees. Mrs. Watson asked what kind we liked the best and I said the redwoods."
"And now we know where you got the idea to paint the trees for her mug," Beckett said.
"Yeah, she said in the spring we'll go out and get new leaves and make rubbings of them to learn more about them. Today we just did some worksheets," Julia said. "And we learned about the different fir trees they use at Christmas."
"Sounds like you had a lot of fun," Castle said. "I'm still surprised you didn't have homework. But I guess the worksheets you did were that."
"I hope I don't have any tomorrow," Julia said. "I don't want to have homework when 'lexis is here…" She paused then and thought for a moment before she said, "I hope she doesn't have homework either when she comes."
"Me too," Eliza said though she hadn't heard what her sister had been saying. She then said, "My work?"
"You don't have any yet," Julia couldn't help giggling. "And you won't in pre-school. Well, homework that's really hard anyways."
"She's right," Beckett said as the toddler was looking over at them. "What would you two like to do Saturday?"
"Is it supposed to snow?" Julia asked. When her parents both shook their heads, she then said shyly, "C-could I do something with Alexis on my own?"
"Like what?" Castle asked.
"Go hiking?" Julia said.
"It might be too cold for that," Beckett said. "But you two could go for a walk after lunch down the beach."
"But Mommy-" Julia started to protest.
"Actually love," Castle said. "Why don't we let them hike the southern route, it'll be in the sun and if the weather's good they should be okay. And tell them only to hike for about ten minutes?"
"If it doesn't get any colder," Beckett said, smiling slightly at Julia's incredibly hopeful expression.
"And then after you can meet us at the studio!" the little girl cried.
"Why am I not surprised you want to go again?" Beckett said with a laugh. "Why don't you and Alexis go alone, the two of you; for lunch and then to the studio."
"Oh, that would be so awesome," Julia breathed. "I have to ask her tonight." She then said, "What are you gonna do?"
"Play with me," Eliza said.
"We probably will," Beckett said, smiling at the toddler before their shakes were served. After Castle had poured some of the shake that was Julia's into a smaller glass, she said, "We should take her out too but what about Martha?"
"She'll likely be tired," Castle said. "Why don't you think of something your sister might like to do Julia."
Looking a little surprised at the suggestion the little girl didn't respond for a moment before she looked at Eliza. "Maybe… take her to the…" she started to say. "I think you should take her to the studio."
"I think I have an idea," Beckett said. "Why don't we just play with her Saturday? We haven't done that all week, we haven't done it for a while."
"And we could have a little time set aside for art," Castle said as he watched the toddler still coloring her page.
"I think we need to," Beckett said, following his gaze and smiling at their daughter.
"Me too," Julia piped up.
When her family started to laugh, Eliza looked up and giggled happily before she said, "Thirsty, Mommy."
"Not yet, when our food comes," Castle answered for her. "So you want to be an artist with us for a little on Saturday sweetheart?"
"Yeah, paint, lots of paint," Eliza said firmly.
"Here's our food," Beckett said, seeing the waitress coming over. "Now you can drink," she said as she slid the glass with the top she'd secured on it to make it easier for the toddler to drink. "I just hope it melted enough for you to do that."
Eliza picked up the cup, smiling at her big sister whose hand was near it and then she sipped, tasting the ice cream and egg nog and humming in response.
"Here you go," Castle was saying as he slid the plate with Eliza's grilled cheese sandwich that he'd cut for her. "Time to eat," he said as he took the crayons she'd been using.
"We'll do more art tomorrow too," Beckett promised her.
"What kind do you want to do?" Julia asked her sister eagerly.
Castle and Beckett exchanged a smile as Eliza paused with her piece of sandwich halfway to her mouth before Julia was making suggestions; the toddler nodding at each one. Julia then asked their parents about what they would do besides painting and somehow the family nearly planned out what the two would do with Eliza through the meal.
When they had finished and were waiting for Castle to pay, Julia heard the song playing and took her sister's hand; since they were standing next to the table as they'd been impatient to go; before starting to dance. Since the song was a faster 50's one she immediately started doing kicks and flicks, while Eliza merely jumped up and down. They both started to laugh and she suddenly spun her sister until they needed to stop to catch their breath.
"Pretty nicely done," Castle said, smiling as Eliza buried her face into her sister's side as some other patrons applauded their dance. "They agree," he said before the waitress handed him back his card. "Thank you. Okay, let's go," he said, picking up the toddler and swinging her legs out to her squeal of joy.
"You forgot her coat," Beckett said with a smile as she handed it to him. She made sure Julia could put on hers as she got her own and then said, "Your daddy was right, that was a very nice dance. But it reminds me, we need to have a lesson sweetie."
"For what?" Julia asked, knowing what she was talking about already.
"Your mandolin," Beckett replied. "Do you want to?"
"Yes, but what about my guitar? And Daddy's guitar?" Julia asked.
"Yeah, what about mine?" Castle asked.
"We'll do that later," Beckett said to him. She then turned to their oldest and said, "We can have a quick lesson on your guitar too but we should probably wait until after Eliza's asleep."
"Wanna see Mommy," Eliza said quickly.
"Are you sure?" Beckett asked as they were leaving the restaurant. At her nod she smiled and said, "We'll do it once we have a chance back at home."